Progressive lands jersey deal for Cleveland’s future WNBA team
The Cleveland-based insurer will sponsor both jersey ad positions before the expansion franchise’s planned 2028 debut.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
Cleveland’s incoming WNBA franchise has signed Progressive Insurance as its jersey sponsor nearly two years before its planned first game in May 2028. The agreement gives the expansion team an early commercial anchor and links it with one of the region’s best-known companies.
The franchise said Tuesday that Progressive will hold both advertising positions on the team’s jersey. According to the team, it is the first WNBA sponsorship deal covering both the upper-left jersey patch and the larger front placement below the numbers.
WNBA teams are permitted to sell those two uniform positions, the franchise said. The Phoenix Mercury became the league’s first team with a jersey sponsor in 2009.
Progressive expands its Cleveland sports ties
Progressive is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, outside Cleveland. The company has also held naming rights to Cleveland’s Major League Baseball stadium since 2008.
Mari Pumarejo, Progressive’s chief marketing officer, said the insurer had recently announced a smaller partnership with Chicago but saw the Cleveland WNBA opportunity as a closer fit. Pumarejo said Progressive became interested after learning the league would return to Cleveland and after meeting Allison Howard, the team’s president of business operations.
Pumarejo said the company saw shared values with the franchise and wanted to support women’s sports, the city and the community. Progressive CEO Tricia Griffith is also an investor in the Cleveland Astra, a women’s soccer team expected to begin play in 2028.
Team building ahead of 2028 launch
The WNBA awarded Cleveland an expansion franchise on June 30, 2025. The city previously had one of the league’s original teams, the Cleveland Rockers, who began play with the WNBA in 1997 and folded in 2003.
Howard said interest in the new team has continued to rise, with 9,000 season-ticket deposits placed over the past year. She said the organization had planned to build out more fully closer to the two-year mark before launch, but early community interest pushed the team to begin listening and engaging sooner.
Howard said the franchise is taking time to respond to public feedback while preparing the team. She also said fans have shared stories about traveling long distances to watch women’s basketball, including college games, because of limited local options.
The jersey deal is expected to be one of several announcements from the franchise in the next year. The team name is expected to be revealed in the next couple of months, according to the franchise.
Dan Gilbert’s Rock Entertainment Group owns the team. The group has also announced a “special event” for Aug. 4 at Rocket Arena.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.